Modeling the past: Digital technologies and excavations in Polis, Cyprus

Abstract

This research and educational project aimed to create virtual 3-D walkthroughs of four principal buildings from the Princeton University excavations at Polis Chrysochous, Cyprus. The structures date from the Cypro-Archaic period beginning in the 7th century bce to the Late Antique period of the 7th century ce. The project was conceived together with a special exhibition, a long-term exhibition in Cyprus, and a presentation on the web. In a joint Computer Science and Art and Archaeology seminar in the spring of 2012, students created reconstructions and populated them with 3-D scanned objects. The challenge was to find appropriate visual metaphors for conveying uncertainty and change in these 3-D visualizations as well as to create a computer-animated movie focused on the buildings, their spatial relationships, and possible reconstructions consistent with the excavations. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.